New Bridge Between Nine Elms And Pimlico

A new pedestrian and cycle bridge linking Pimlico and Nine Elms has been proposed as part of the multi-billion pound redevelopment of the south London site, reports Building Design. An international competition will be launched later in the year. A budget of £30m is anticipated, most of it from private sources.

Should it go ahead, the bridge would be the first in London since the Millennium Bridge wobbled its way into existence in May 2000 (although there are also plans to build another bridge, a little further to the west, between Battersea and Chelsea Harbour). The backers will have a job convincing local residents of its value, though: when plans first surfaced last year it was widely denounced.

This isn't the first bridge planned for the area: as we saw in our Unbuilt London series, in the 1960s a suitably wacky group of chancers called the Glass Age Development Committee proposed the 'Crystal Span', a seven-storey glass bridge packed with shops. Sadly, it remains unrealised.